Leitao resigns: Cavs coach out after 10-18 season

Since arriving at UVA in 2005, head men's basketball coach Dave Leitao compiled an overall record of 63-60.PHOTO BY JUSTIN HENRY/FLICKR

After helming the UVA men's basketball program's worst season since 1967, and a loss in the opening round of this year's ACC Tournament, Dave Leitao announced Monday, March 16, that he is resigning his post as head men's basketball coach.

UVA has reached a financial agreement with Leitao which will see the four-year coach receive $2.1 million in severance pay.

Says athletic director Craig Littlepage in a press release, "Dave has been a respected colleague and a fine University representative in the local community during his tenure here. He brought a great deal of leadership, discipline and integrity to his coaching responsibilities.”

Littlepage further announced that a national search for Leitao's replacement will begin immediately, though he says many candidates are currently involved in post-season play.

At first it seemed as though Leitao may have righted the Good Ship Wahoo, turning in a 15-15 record his first season with big wins at home over ranked opponents North Carolina and Boston College. Then, with the guard tandem of J.R. Reynolds and Sean Singletary as his on-court generals, Leitao coached UVA to their best season in five years with a 21-12 record in 2007, which included a stunning upset at home over the #8 Duke Blue Devils, and an NCAA Tournament bid.

But what was once sweet began to turn sour in during the 2007-2008 campaign, when the Cavaliers went 17-16 and missed out on both the NCAA and National Invitational Tournament. Leitao and company had to settle for the third-tier College Basketball Invitational, in which they ultimately lost to the Bradley Braves at John Paul Jones Arena before a crowd numbering in the hundreds.

While this season saw its high points with an overtime win over ranked opponent Clemson, and a season-split with intrastate rival Virginia Tech, the Cavaliers hit far more low notes, including a loss at home to Liberty. The last time the Flames defeated the 'Hoos was 1998, which proved to be the final season for head coach Jeff Jones.

It wasn't always the case that ACC coaches got the axe after a mediocre start. Before becoming the third-winningest coach in NCAA history, Mike Krzyzewski had an overall winning percentage of .447 in his first three seasons at Duke. But college basketball is big business now and a team's success has a big impact on the university at large. A 2004 Cornell University study study found that if a public university's team makes it into the NCAA Tournament, alumni giving for that school goes up an average of $5.60 per alumnus.

So with Leitao fallen, who will rise to take his place? UVA may not have to look far. Many potentially attractive coaching candidates are already in the Cavalier family, including one who was once top man on the sidelines of University Hall:

Jeff Jones: Yes, UVA already hired and fired as head coach him once already. But Jones had an overall winning percentage of .584 in his eight seasons as the 'Hoos head coach, which included five NCAA Tournament bids, and an unforgettable run to the Elite Eight round of the 1995 tourney. And guess who's back in the Big Dance again this year? Jones has led his American University Eagles to two consecutive Patriot League championships, and will tip-off against Villanova in the first round of the NCAAs on Thursday, March 19.

Jim Larranaga: The onetime assistant to Cavalier legend Terry Holland during the Ralph Sampson era rose to national fame when he led the 11th-seeded George Mason Patriots all the way to the Final Four–- the lowest seeded team to ever advance to the national semifinal. Larranaga has thus far rebuffed offers to coach at higher profile schools, but might he be enticed to come back to Charlottesville?

Marc Iavaroni: Next to Dallas Mavericks head coach Rick Carlisle, Iavaroni is the only UVA alum with NBA coaching experience, having coached the Memphis Grizzlies for one-and-a-half seasons until he was fired this past January. But Iavaroni has learned coaching from some of the greats, including having served as a graduate assistant to Holland, and as an assistant coach to Mike D'Antoni when the Phoenix Suns went all the way to the Western Conference Finals in 2004, and again in 2005. Iavaroni also has an NBA Championship ring as a member of the 1983 Philadelphia 76ers.

But should Craig Littlepage decide to go outside of the UVA community as he did in the cases of Leitao and Pete Gillen, there are several up-and-coming coaches in the college ranks who could fit the Cavalier bill:

Anthony Grant: In three seasons just down the road at Virginia Commonwealth University, Grant has become a star on the rise. Under Grant, the Rams have won two Colonial Athletic Association championships and dispatched of the sixth-seeded Duke Blue Devils in the most memorable buzzer-beater game of the 2007 NCAA Tournament. The Rams are back again this year and ready to butt heads with the UCLA Bruins on Thursday, March 19.

Tommy Amaker: Though he's already had two shots at the big time as head coach of Michigan and Seton Hall, Amaker may finally have gotten over the coaching hump this year in his first season as the head coach at Harvard. Amaker's Crimson beat three of the teams in this year's NCAA Tournament field including UVA's ACC foe Boston College. Could this Duke alum and former assistant to Mike Krzyzewski swallow his Blue Devil pride and come home to his native Virginia?

Steve Donahue: Speaking of the Ivy League, Steve Donahue has accomplished something at Cornell that no other coach has accomplished since 1944: win consecutive Ivy League titles at a school not named Penn or Princeton. Once again the Cornell Big Red are headed to the Big Dance, and hope to pluck some juicy fruit from the March Madness tree when they play the third-seeded Missouri Tigers on Friday, March 20.

Brad Greenberg: As if the Virginia-Virginia Tech rivalry weren't interesting enough, how much more fun would it be if the coaches on either sideline were brothers? That's what would happen if UVA hired Brad Greenberg, brother of and former assistant coach to Hokie head coach Seth Greenberg. Greenberg is currently in his second season as head coach at Radford University, where he just won the Big South Conference championship and a trip to face the North Carolina Tar Heels in the first round of the NCAAs on Thursday, March 19. Greenberg's Radford squad nearly beat the Cavaliers on their home court when the 'Hoos eked out a 68-66 win over the Highlanders in November.

–updated March 29 at 3:28pm. The print edition of this article misstated George Mason's seeding in the 2006 tournament, and the year in which VCU beat Duke. Those errors have been corrected in this online edition.

47 comments

Buffalo girl March 16th, 2009 | 4:48pm

Fox News reporting Leito was fired and UVA is in the hole for 2.1 million. Is anyone else disgusted. First UVA has lost tens of millions of dollars from their endowment, academic positions are on hold , buildings are on hold, all departments including the medical school are cutting back and what do they do waste 2.1 million firing their basketball coach. When will this insanity stop and UVA get back to it's true mission--EDUCATION !

phonypony March 16th, 2009 | 4:55pm

totally agree - this is pathetic. And how is it a resignation if we are paying him off?

Can we get a credit for the $$$$$$$$ we paid Gillen to leave and have him return?

This is why I direct my giving directly to my degree department.

diagoliv March 16th, 2009 | 5:00pm

Since almost all the money from sports comes from VAF and not UVa you are talking about two different pots of money. Secondly basketball's and football's excess revenue help fund all other sports at UVa. The endowment and sports have nothing to do with each other and it's misleading to relate the two.

Sports have paid more for education and it's almost never the other way around. Donors who give to sports do so with their own hard earned money. The fact that you don't like it shouldn't amount to a hill of beans.

Good luck Dave

Jim March 16th, 2009 | 5:03pm

I don't like it either, but do you know how these contracts work? Here are the options: they fire him outright and pay the rest of his contract, which I assure you is a lot more than $2.1 million. They keep him, the program probably keeps tanking, and nobody's at the new arena. Or, they give him money to go away, a new coach and some new hope comes in, selling tickets (at a total likely greater than $2.1 million). None are particularly appealing, especially not now. But this was the cleanest and easiest way to deal with it. My apologies if you do know better and were just venting frustration.

Buffalo girl March 16th, 2009 | 5:10pm

Diagoliv, you say:

"Donors who give to sports do so with their own hard earned money."

I believe donors are encouraged to give to what will give them prestige and name recognition, as well as giving because there is a genuine need. The leaders of UVA work very hard to direct the money to what they value most. In recent years with the monstrous stadiums and arenas their value system has been made very clear.

diagoliv March 16th, 2009 | 5:22pm

Nope BG, donors at UVa Sports give lots of money to get the best seats and parking places. They give big money to get in sky boxes and legally drink their booze. They give all this money so they can also go to the NCAA's and bowl games. They really like to win- when they don't win, they pay huge money to get rid of coaches they don't like.
The sports complex you dasdain were built with ZERO state money, this is not the case in many states. Private money is just that and freedom of choice is what Jefferson would have wanted. Next time you go to a concert remember that basketball fans built that arena not your ticket price. Just in case you shouldn't go to U2 as a protest as well.

Buffalo girl March 16th, 2009 | 5:28pm

Perhaps, now that it's more difficult to get into UVA we'll see a new breed of alumni whose priority is academics and the arts, not expensive sky boxes.

Mike Wiszowski March 16th, 2009 | 5:33pm

Buffalo Girl,

sports, in some for mor another, have been an important and essential part of schools and society for generations upon generations. For sports programs across the nation to be bringing in as much revenue as they do is truly a blessing. Therefore as previoulsy mentioned by Jim, tough choices have to be made for the greater good of the program.

And you mentioned monstrous edifices. Ponder this one for a second, who do you think benefits when JPJ host huge events as frequently as they do??

You don't really like sports do ya?

Buffalo girl March 16th, 2009 | 6:14pm

D, you said "Next time you go to a concert remember that basketball fans built that arena not your ticket price."

I'll bet that arena is far from paid for and UVA is desperate to fill it ---

Mac March 16th, 2009 | 7:03pm

for God sakes, don't bring Jones back. His tenure at UVa ended much worse than Gillen's or Leitao's, Jeff constantly snarling at real and/or imagined critics, while under his lead the athletic department began to resemble a scene from Caligula

Sick Of The Local Rambos March 16th, 2009 | 7:24pm

quote: "I don’t like it either, but do you know how these contracts work? Here are the options: they fire him outright and pay the rest of his contract, which I assure you is a lot more than $2.1 million. They keep him, the program probably keeps tanking, and nobody’s at the new arena. Or, they give him money to go away, a new coach and some new hope comes in, selling tickets (at a total likely greater than $2.1 million). None are particularly appealing, especially not now. But this was the cleanest and easiest way to deal with it. My apologies if you do know better and were just venting frustration."

Jim is correct. Just like we paid a large chunk of change just to say bye-bye to the former city school superintendent a few years back in the city.

dave March 16th, 2009 | 7:26pm

Good riddance. You can get away with being a petulant jerk if you win games, but a loser with that kind of sideline and public demeanor has got to go.

enrique March 16th, 2009 | 7:43pm

what was the deal on jones leaving the 1st time? he lost some games but sounds like the off the field issues killed him. lets hear some dirt.

bedeviler March 16th, 2009 | 8:26pm

Buffalo Girl-you are clearly not here to win friends and influence people. The ship has long since sailed on the planning of the JPJ and it was built with private funds. Everyone who gave any cosideration to the issue of the size of the thing wondered how a 14,000 seat facility would be filled when UHall was not filled at the end of Gillen's campaign. Most everyone thought the plans for the JPJ included at least 1,500-2,000 seats more than could reasonably be expected to be filled, and they were right. It is a white elephant until UVA can find a high end coach capable of doing more with less and competing with UNC and Duke (and regularly beating everyone else in the conference). That's a given. Gillen was not that coach, and Leitao has proven he isn't either. The economic situation and Craig Littlepage's shaky standing with donors to the revenue generating sports meant a change had to come, sooner than expected.

bedeviler March 16th, 2009 | 8:31pm

And this whole episode has been very educational, meeting the criterion of the sole purpose of the University in the eyes of some (maybe one). Lessons in applied economics abound. Sometimes if you build it, they will not come.

Respectfully, leave the off-the-court rumor business to the professionals.

I don't mean to suggest whom UVA SHOULD hire, only who they MIGHT consider. The three UVA-connected candidates have valuable coaching experience at the highest levels. It's worth mentioning that Jones was only 29 when he was hired and a sprightly 37 when he got the axe. He'll still be a year shy of his 50th birthday in June, perhaps an older and wiser coach.

Amaker and Donahue both have good records at academically-challenging schools. You know who the last coach was to get hired out of the Ivy League? John Thompson III, and he went to a Final Four last year with Georgetown.

As for Greenberg, well, his team is in the Big Dance this year, and UVA is waiting 'til next season.

I certainly don't envy Craig Littlepage's task, especially considering that UVA now finds itself in the basement of a conference that just sent seven teams to the NCAA Tournament.

So how about it, Charlie and other readers? Who should UVA hire? Bedevil me if you must, or offer up some maverick choices of your own. Just keep it clean.

Had to delete an earlier comment because it contained a potentially libelous statement (send any and all rumors to me at lindsay@readthehook.com). However, the rest of it was just fine, and I responded above. So here's the post, minus the couple of words in question:

Hey LB3,

I am thoroughly disappointed. Come on, buddy, it’s Mind, Hands, and Heart where we are from. You’re missing the mind part :-)

Jeff Jones? Nice prodigal son story, but the powers that be still remember his epic flameout, which included an NCAA violation, our first loss to Liberty, and an incoming recruit that almost took out a football player’s eyeball with a box cutter. Time heals all wounds, but it doesn’t erase the past. No way Casteen okays that one.

Larranaga passed at a chance to coach at his alma mater, Providence, in the Big East after his final four run. He is smart enough not to trade his mid-major empire for a floormat in the ACC.

Iavaroni is somewhat plausible. But Groh has soured us Wahoos on former professional coaches.

Grant is worth mentioning. I’ll give you that.

AMAKER? TOMMY AMAKER? We just fired a coach who previously resigned after an abysmal season early his career (Northeastern). No way we take a guy who has failed twice before.

Steve Donahue? Now your just trying to remind people you went to an Ivy League school.

You lost all journalistic credibility with the Greenberg mention. You think we are going to hire a coach with two years of head coaching experience and a losing record in the Big South? UVa has botched some coaching searches, but never to that degree.

Student activity fees help pay for these teams! My point is that
intercollegiate athletics isn't just a self-sustaining thing that operates independantly from the academic part of the university.

Glenn March 16th, 2009 | 10:26pm

Buffalo Girl,

Get off your high horse. UVA has decided to play Big Boy Football and Big Boy Basketball - not Ivy League. You think anybody gives Cal-Berkeley a hard time for their athletics programs, which are at least as successful as UVA's? Of course not. Athletics only enhances a school's name recognition and marketability.

If you want "academic purity", go to Harvard (or better yet, some school with NO athletics programs). UVA didn't spend $90M expanding Scott Stadium, nor $125M on the JPJ Arena, to use them to host debate teams and science fairs. And the fans didn't donate all that cash to watch such nonsense, either.

--Glenn, CLAS 1990

You Know Hoo March 16th, 2009 | 10:49pm

So you're saying I'm not a professional? But I stayed at Holiday Inn last night! For the record, I love Jeff Jones. He once patted my head as a young lad when I saw him around town.

UVa should hire a big name coach with no history of NCAA infractions. The next coach is going to inherit a program that will probably have only a few scholarship players and virtually no recruiting pipeline. It's going to be hard for any incoming coach to recruit after this debacle, let alone a mid major coach. Littlepage should bring in someone who can recruit on his name alone. That would be Tubby, Izzo, or Capel. All are rumored to be looking, but Tubby seems the most likely. He goes where the money is. You can be the greatest coach in the world, but if you can't recruit, you're dead in the ACC.

That's what should happen. What will happen is another mid major coach hire. I'd put my money on either Siena's coach (Fran McCaffery) or Butler's coach (Brad Stevens, who has a .873 winning percentage).

There you go. Free of charge.

Your Friend from Old Main,
-Charlie

George Bailey March 17th, 2009 | 12:09am

Sounds like Buffalo Girl should check her hubris at the door.

Buffalo girl March 17th, 2009 | 12:40am

bd, you said"Buffalo Girl-you are clearly not here to win friends and influence people." Certainly won't influence the sky box crowd, and no way am I interested in making friends. What I am interested in is pointing out the obvious, the big bucks at UVA are going to sports and I question that as a matter of priorities when academic departments are under severe budget constraints as are needed building projects.

Jay '99 March 17th, 2009 | 5:31am

It can't get any worse than my time at UVa. At my last home game as a student, the lone fourth-year they honored was a walk-on. Scott Johnson, Darryl Presley, Melvin Whitaker, Courtney Alexander...all of them left the team due to legal problems. Hell, even Harold Deane got arrested. I'm just glad we're talking about the team's performance on the court rather than in court.

enrique March 17th, 2009 | 6:54am

buffalo - uva does not need new bldg projects. many are just a waste of money when existing facilities are fine. more than a few of these projects are vanity plays by casteen or big donors. clean up the current bldgs, they are fine. interestingly, most students never step foot in many of these new bldgs

countyguy March 17th, 2009 | 8:21am

BG if money is so constrained how do you explain the south lawn project (125 million), the new cancer hospital, the research park,or the addition to the education school. UVa has spent 100's of millions on education in the past few years. Any project that gets delayed now is because of the endowment and not sports spending. Your dislike of sports has clouded your reason and made you utter nonsense that is untrue and disingenuous.

The University's education spending is the envy of any public institution in the nation but if you had done an ounce of research you would know that. Fine institutions can have good sports-the nations top overall college sports program is Stanford(it has been for years). That is UVa's model for sports and it's a great one. We have great swimming, lacrosse, baseball, tennis and many other non-revenue sports.You are trying to make this an either we spend money on education or we spend it on sports. UVa has been able to do both and not short change either.

As for new coaches, I take VCU's Grant.

phonypony March 17th, 2009 | 8:49am

I have to say I'm surprised to have been in the minority on this topic. For the record, I didn't like Leitao either and was looking forward to the end of his tenure.

I get all the points that have been made but aren't you at all miffed that someone who has failed at his job walks away with millions? It's such a repetitive story, is there no way to structure these contracts to reward performance like they do with NFL players? Or is that already there as well as the pot of gold in on the back-end?

WestBerkeleyFlats March 17th, 2009 | 8:53am

"You think anybody gives Cal-Berkeley a hard time for their athletics programs, which are at least as successful as UVA’s? Of course not."

Well, there was the matter of people sitting in trees for a year or two to try to prevent construction of a "student-athlete high performance center."

Sick_of_it March 17th, 2009 | 9:01am

Wow! Not a single email defending Leitao. No sad goodbyes. Maybe Littlepage has actually been paying attention. I've been a season ticket holder for football for years, and I'm not coming back this season. Face the facts people: UVa is a lacrosse/soccer/baseball (and women's basketball) school. Thank you very much to football and men's basketball for financially supporting those teams. If football and basketball can win more than they lose and not have players embarass the school with bad behavior, I'd be happy. I have played and I have coached (some poor, and some championship teams). Everybody chill out, they are called "games" for a reason.

Never Been to a Game March 17th, 2009 | 9:19am

I thought the same as "You Know Hoo." Wouldn't UVa be attractive to a BIG name coach: ACC, great town, chance to build a big time program, etc.? The only hitch: are the administration/VAF/boosters too much of a pain for a big time coach? I don't know...just asking.

On the other hand, in my ten years of living here, I suspect the correct tagline below the V-sabre should be "Uncompromised Mediocrity."

At least the football coach is a great guy with a winning personality, awesome communication skills and devotion to the community that lines his pockets!

Music Lover March 17th, 2009 | 9:24am

Iavaroni or - sit down for this one - Bobby Knight. You want to turn the program around, there's nobody better than Knight. Too bad Rick Carlisle is employed - he'd be the best choice by far, and he's a great (not just good) coach. Jeff Jones would be a good hire, not a great hire, but I doubt he'd even consider it as long as Littlepage is calling the shots.

Nope, no sad goodbyes for Leitao. He did a very poor job, berated the players publicly, alienated the team's best player (Singletary) almost immediately upon his arrival in Charlottesville, and proved that he can't recruit his way out of a paper bag. I doubt that anybody's going to line up to hire this guy. The ACC is Big Time College Basketball, and if you can't get 1 or 2 great players to come in every year you aren't going to win. Leitao was clearly not up to the task, he wasn't a nice guy, and he's walking away with $2.1 million. Why should any of us be sad for HIM?

But in all honesty, firing Leitao is a good move, but firing Littlepage would have been much better for the long-time health of the athletic program. He has yet to demonstrate that he knows what he's doing - the only sensible thing I've seen him do is pressure Groh to fire his son as offensive coordinator.

As for the expensive buildings for athletics, I know for a fact (because my wife used to work with him, and this had been his dream for YEARS) that Carl Smith was going to donate his $25 million for NOTHING other than expanding Scott Stadium and building a much more modest football stadium at UVA-Wise, which is near where he grew up. His not-so-quiet hope was that the generous donation would cause people to nudge him into the College Football Hall of Fame. It didn't, though he was an excellent player in his day.

So that donation wasn't diverted or directed by anybody but the donor. UVA either accepted it and enlarged/upgraded the stadium, or they weren't going to see the money. The Chemistry Department wasn't going to smell that cash, nor was the Medical Center. I imagine the expansion has already contributed tens of millions of dollars to the athletic department - the extra ticket sales and concession sales, plus the ability to book acts like DMB, the Stones, and U2 make that cash register fill up in a hurry. JPJ was also privately funded, and if you've never been inside it is an amazing place with the best acoustics I've ever heard in an arena.

So the "that money should have gone to education" argument holds no water - whether it should have or not, it wasn't going to. Maybe some people think it's an abomination that the University even has an athletic program, and that it is a cash cow, but this is the world we live in and there are a lot of us who are glad there's a new stadium and arena plus some excellent teams (baseball, lacrosse, tennis, etc).

On the flip side, Smith's wife Hunter was able to direct another large sum to the University to build an Arts building - and to fund a band to replace the Pep Band (a singular act of kindness that should put HER in the College Football Hall of Fame!).

TJ March 17th, 2009 | 9:50am

Wonder if people looking at their 401K's would agree with Mr. Ratcliffe arguing in the DP for spending big money on a new coach

"Sure, it will be expensive. But it’s like our better halves often remind us when they’re in pursuit of that one ensemble to die for: Ã¢â?¬Å?It’s investment shopping, dear. This outfit will stand the test of time.”

Music Lover, you say "proved that he can’t recruit his way out of a paper bag." whereas Reid in the DP says today "it is a virtual certainty that Tristan Spurlock- a highly-rated recruit..will not be coming to Charlottesville." sources say that Spurlock was attracted to Virginia almost entirely by Leito and ..Courtney.

Hoo-hoo--hoo March 17th, 2009 | 1:40pm

My vote is for Grant. The guy has style, respect, class and motiviates his team. Most important he has shown his potential! Of course having Maynor didn't hurt either. :)

TS March 17th, 2009 | 1:46pm

Two words... Tubby Smith

Also, there is a lot to be mad about - earmarks, excessive executive bonuses, bailouts, war, hunger, our draconian heathcare system. Don't get too worked up over a basket ball coach. I sometime wish that people had this much passion over stuff that really mattered (not intended as a shot at anyone on this message board - I'm also referring to myself).

diagoliv March 17th, 2009 | 2:20pm

I like Tubby but it might be very hard ($$$$) to get him out of Minnestota

boxer4h March 17th, 2009 | 3:01pm

I think UVA should do what they are asking everyone else to do in these trying times. At the hospital, the RN's/MD's and staff are trying to do more with less. I think this would work well in the basketball arena. Have Debbie Ryan coach both the Men's and Women's Bball teams. She seems to be the only coach left who can win anything around here.

County Farmer March 17th, 2009 | 6:44pm

Countyguy thinks Stanford has the best overall sports program. What planet is he from? Try the Florida Gators. The only school ever to hold both the football and basketball national title simultaneously. However, even Billy Donovan can't make chicken soup from chicken crap. There lies the problem with UVA. UVA can occationally score a great STUDENT athlete like Ralph Sampson, the Barber twins and Long but not enough at one time to make for a great team. The schools that have the huge money sports machine rolling are the ones that have made the commitment to pay for the best coaches available. Look at what Nick Sabin did in one year at Alabama though not up to the Gators standard.

WestBerkeleyFlats March 17th, 2009 | 8:20pm

Countyguy thinks Stanford has the best overall sports program. What planet is he from? Try the Florida Gators.

Stanfurd routinely wins the Sears Director's Cup for overall athletic success. There are more than two sports, you know.

George Bailey March 18th, 2009 | 12:10am

TS is spot-on. You have to pick and choose your battles.

I vote for Debbie Ryan.

Or Tubby Smith.

But really, you have to assume the program has their eyes fixed on a big catch after firing a guy after one losing season, and two years after winning ACC Coach of the Year and a share of the ACC regular season title. Perhaps I'm giving them too much credit, though. Maybe this is just the same old wahoo-wah.

County Farmer March 18th, 2009 | 1:29pm

WestBerkeleyFlats, I can't stand folk's that quote one's comments. Also, "STANFURD" winning the Sear's cup(big deal) is important to the few spectators of cross crountry, volleyball and synchronized swimming where "Stanfurd" excels. Football and basketball is where the money is as everyone knows.

Big Dog March 18th, 2009 | 2:36pm

BG gets my vote.

Why does everyone else in Charlottesville just want to spout the company line? Don't you all get tired of it? My guess is that all ye anonymous commentators except BG get a pay check from UVA.

The VERY BEST choices: Ivaroni and Carlilse. Ivaroni would be a very popular choice, and could even hire Andrew Boninti as a bench coach.

countyguy March 18th, 2009 | 2:36pm

County Farmer does title nine ring a bell? That's part of the point of non revenue sports. I would rather have UVa'a academic ranking then Florida's football and basketball championship. I think most people here would. Stanford is perhaps the finest institution in the nation and they have the best sports program. Stanford has earned 95 NCAA National Titles since its establishment, the second-most by any university; 78 NCAA National Titles since 1980, the most by any university; and 393 individual NCAA championships, the most by any university. They have it all- and before you turn your nose up on non revenue sport might I point out that Tiger Woods went to Staford. He making more than any Florida athletes you are so fond of.

Add to that list John McEnroe, Jim Plunkett and John Elway. Throw in some US Presidents,Supreme Court Justices, senators, astronauts, and a slew of Olympians and you start to make Florida look pretty weak by comparison. Then add the Noble winners, the tech revolution leaders, and just for grins finish with Bill Walsh of the 49ers.

Stanford is the model for UVA not Florida- it isn't even close

Hoo-hoo-hoo March 18th, 2009 | 3:12pm

Damn countyguy do you dream these numbers in your sleep? Why would anyone remember those stats from year to year??? Did you attend Stanford cause your making UVA look like a community college? :D

Big Dog March 19th, 2009 | 10:56pm

Stanford could no more be the model for UVA than Palo Alto could be the model for Charlottesville. Countryguy has never visited Stanford, because if he had, he would have noticed something called Silicon Valley in Palo Alto and a famous street called Sands Road. Charlottesville does not have Silicon Valley nor does it have Sands Road, nor does it have a city like San Francisco nearby. Charlottesville's got a place called Richmond, and folks, all this is why UVA is not and never will be Stanford.

C'villeboy March 29th, 2009 | 7:08pm

So why are the Ã¢â?¬Ë?Hoos too good to play George Mason, but would want to steal our coach?

from what we hear January 6th, 2009 | 4:35pm

As far as the dump goes, The Hook deserves the most credit for the clean up. In the view of most, the land would still be a mess if not for Hook reports. The county finally jumped when they saw your articles. Of course, the county now assumes credit for the successful mission. The community extends a warm thank you to The Hook. You truly made a difference for the good of the environment. As a result, the county will never again look the other way in such a case.

tina January 8th, 2009 | 6:48pm

How come when talking about the 20 year murder case, Mr. Morris' children are never thought about only the ones he "raised"?